In a Sunday morning interview on CNN‘s State of the Union, Ohio Senator JD Vance, Donald Trump‘s vice-presidential pick, was confronted about putting his constituents “at risk” due to his claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets.
In a contentious, 17-minute interview on the topic, host Dana Bash pressed Vance about those claims, along with Trump’s mention about the conspiracy theory on the debate state with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris last week.
“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs,” Trump said in Philadelphia during the debate on Tuesday. “The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.”
Far from just an online storm, it is affecting real life too. Springfield’s city hall had to be evacuated on Thursday morning after a bomb threat, which officials said included “hateful language toward immigrants and Haitians in our community,” was sent to it, along with the Clark County courthouse and two elementary schools.
U.S. Ohio Senator and Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance is seen in Phoenix, on September 5. In a Sunday morning interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Vance was confronted about putting his constituents “at risk” due to his claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets.
OLIVIER TOURON/AFP via Getty Images
On Sunday, Bash noted on several occasions that she wasn’t, personally, accusing Vance of putting Haitian immigrants “at risk.” However, she said she was quoting the city’s mayor, Rob Rue.
Rue told CNN on Thursday that the lies are “hurting our community,” the same day the Springfield city hall building was evacuated for a reported bomb threat.
“Springfield is a community that needs help,” the mayor told The Washington Post in an interview. He said, without naming Trump, that national leaders should not “hurt a community like, unfortunately, we have seen over the last couple of days.”
At one point, Vance called what Bash said “disgusting” regarding his claims that she was accusing him of putting the community at risk and inciting violence. He also reiterated to Bash that he had heard about the concerns about Haitian immigrants “firsthand” from his Ohio constituents.
“We can condemn the violence on the one hand but also talk about the terrible consequences of Kamala Harris’ open border on the other hand,” Vance told Bash.
Vance also admitted he hasn’t actually been to Springfield to investigate the rumors against the Haitian American community.
This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information.
